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BMX daredevils reinvented themselves during the pandemic as small business owners by opening Shop Santé in Pointe-Claire.
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At the beginning of 2020, Kevin Fabregue and Jeffrey Whaley were touring the world with Cirque du Soleil, and Fabregue was competing for a chance to represent France at the summer Olympics. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The world tour was put on hold. The Olympics were postponed. Fabregue and Whaley decided there would be no better moment to try something new.
By the end of the year, the best friends and BMX daredevils had reinvented themselves as small business owners with the opening of Shop Santé, a high-end supplements and health food franchise, in the West Island. With the help of another friend and business partner, Francis Langevin, Fabregue and Whaley got a crash course in retail management.
“It was probably the worst time to think about starting a business because everything was pretty much closing down, but for us it was really the only time we were able to do something,” Fabregue said. “It was not the best timing, but it was our best timing.”
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The first Shop Santé store in Quebec opened about four years ago, while Fabregue and Whaley were still on tour. The franchise came on their radar two years ago, when Fabregue got hurt on tour and was sent home to Quebec for physiotherapy. He went into the store to buy supplements and came away impressed at the store’s focus on healthy living, not just bodybuilding.
“I’m an athlete but I’m not a bodybuilder. A lot of those stores are something that even as an athlete myself I felt a bit out of place. The products were not presented in a way that you know how to use them,” Fabregue said. “Shop Santé is really somewhere that everyone can feel like they’re in the right place.”
The St-Jean Blvd. boutique in Pointe-Claire features bulk supplements and protein powders, 60 flavours of icy protein shakes, grocery items and snacks, and freshly made Keto and vegan meals for take-out. There is also a little bar area with chairs and a TV where people will be eventually able to hang out and drink a protein shake after a workout.
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Although they are new to running a business, Fabregue and Whaley are no strangers to risk. If there’s one thing they learned from their journey as athletes, it’s that you never know what you can do until you try.
Fabregue and Whaley met at the local skate park near their homes in the east end of Montreal when both were in their early teens. Both boys quickly developed a passion for performing thrilling tricks. After four years of riding every day, they started to make a living at it. By 16, the duo were already performing live shows weekly, at Monster Truck rallies, festivals, and schools around Montreal.
BMX was a new sport back then, with no established competition circuit or national teams to try out for. After high school, the safe bet was to leave BMX behind and choose a career. But Fabregue and Whaley wanted to see how far they could go if they really focused on their sport.
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They took their BMX show on the road, traveling to compete in bike contests all over the world. One day, someone with Cirque du Soleil caught their act, which launched their journey as circus performers.
That part of the story isn’t over: when the world opens up again, Fabregue and Whaley intend to return to touring with Cirque du Soleil, and will continue competing in their sport, leaving Langevin to manage Shop Santé while they are traveling.
“I like competing because it’s just riding BMX and that’s what I like, but the shows are something else,” Fabregue said. “It’s a good feeling to make people happy, to make people smile doing what you love. Doing shows I feel like you always win.”
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